Dependent
by Luv2Game
Summary: Sometimes darkness can become overwhelming. Suffocating, even. Sometimes reaching for air seems useless. But, no matter how thick the darkness may appear, there is always a light. ::Daddy!Phoenix Centric::


**A/n: **This has massive **spoilers** for _Apollo Justice_. Everything after this **sentence** contains spoilers for the entire game, so if you've yet to beat it and wish to remain unspoiled, feel free to turn around. So, now that all that is out of the way, let me say that though this is set in the _Apollo _time line, it's basically a Phoenix centric. It focuses on Phoenix after he lost his badge, and there's some Trucy thrown in because their relationship intrigues me. Not so father/daughter fluffy since ol' Nick is in a slump, but I wanted to explore the _beginning _of their relationship.

But there is a little fluff. :wink wink:

**Disclaimer:** Don't own a thing. Don't sue.

Oh, before I forget, many thanks to **Rin-neechan **for looking over this and for the suggestion. You are way awesome! And now, on with the show.

_**Dependent**_

_**xxxx**_

_I can't believe this happened..._

Sitting on his couch, head in his hands and brown eyes closed to the world, Phoenix Wright couldn't silence his wondering mind. 

_How...? _

One thought kept running through his head; relentless and unending. 

_How did this happen?_

Nearly a month had passed since that fateful day. The day his attorney's badge- his life- had been ripped from him. Tore away from his grasp and cast aside, his verdict handed down as routinely as any other trial. His entire being had been plucked away, discarded like a piece of troublesome lint. His career. His passion. His life. All gone. 

_How! How could I have been so.. so careless?_

He didn't understand. It had all started out like any other trial. It had been handed to him on short notice, but he had been confident in his client and his faith had been strong. He'd even been up against a rookie prosecutor. Everything should have gone smoothly. 

But it hadn't. All because of one piece of evidence. A piece of paper that had been handed to him before the start of the trial. A simple sheet of paper. The one thing that should have aided him in his fight had ultimately killed him. 

He should have known better. His years on the bar should have instilled more common sense in him. He should have known better than to accept that piece of paper. It hadn't been analyzed. He hadn't been the one who had found it. 

He should have known it was forged. 

Emitting a deep sigh, Phoenix shifted on the couch, fingers digging into his dark hair. But he hadn't known. He had taken the evidence without thought. He had been so careless. So stupid. 

His license as an attorney had been revoked quite a few days ago. A month had practically gone by, yet Phoenix couldn't stop thinking about it. It haunted him. Consumed nearly his every thought. Every moment, every turn of the day, remained the same. It taunted him. Boasted. Every day he was reminded of just how foolish he had been. Darkness loomed around each thought, snickering at his position. 

Phoenix hated it. He hated it all. He hated that piece of paper that had torn his life from him. Hated the people that had ripped his badge from him. He hadn't known! He hadn't forged that article! His work was his life. His career was his passion. It was his livelihood. He prided himself on his honesty and ability to fight with the truth; he had no use for such dirty work. 

But his badge had still been taken from him. He was reminded of it every single day he awoke to his office, now useless. What good was a law firm with no lawyer? He hated it all. 

And though nearly a month had elapsed, he still struggled to push his dark thoughts aside. Yes, he had support. His friends had called, dropped by- he knew he had people to turn to. But, despite that warmth, he still felt as if he was up against a wall. Though he knew shouldn't allow the thoughts to consume him, Phoenix found himself nearly suffocating with the weight of the matter, sometimes wondering if there was any sense in reaching for air. 

"Daddy?" 

A small, tentative voice filtered through the room. It took Phoenix a moment to register the sound, the term 'Daddy' still rather unfamiliar . Slowly, he lifted his head, blinking through the brilliant light streaming through the window. Gaze sliding past the setting sun, he focused on the small figure standing in his doorway. 

"Trucy." 

Staring down at the little girl, Phoenix felt the weight pressing down on him intensify. Trucy Enigmar, eight-year-old daughter of his missing client, Zak. Though now she was Trucy Wright. She had been left behind by the disappearing magician, and from what he had gathered her mother was no longer living. She had no one, abandoned by her father. 

So now he was her father. 

The darkness threatened to smother him. A father. He had no idea how to raise a child- a little girl that had no one. He had experience with children, of course, but a father? It was full-time job. He couldn't just spend a day or two with her every now and then. It was a constant duty. And an expensive one. Clothes, food, school; it all required money. And now, thanks to her biological father, Phoenix had no job. 

How in the world had all of this happened? 

Stepping into the room, the little girl glanced at the man on the couch, fingers twirling with a piece of her short auburn hair. Sensing a thickness in the air but not knowing it's source, the child ventured, "Daddy, I'm hungry..." 

Phoenix wasn't sure if he should laugh at the irony of the situation or shout. Part of him, the part shrouded in despair and night, wanted to turn away from Trucy, just ignore her and everything around him. He was hungry, too, though his hunger wasn't one that could be satiated by food. Yet the other half of him, the sensible, realistic side, knew that, no matter how low he felt, he could never turn his back on the little girl. 

She hadn't done this to him. She was a victim in all of this, too. Her father, the man that had been with her for the first eight years of her, had left her behind. She didn't have anyone, and she deserved none of it. She was just a child. A child left alone, who longed for something solid. Children needed someone that could be their rock, and every single person Trucy had depended on had let her down. 

Phoenix wasn't sure he could be a very good rock, but he did know that he couldn't just ignore the small child. 

"Hungry, huh?" Swiping a hand over his face, fighting off the grim thoughts of money, Phoenix propped an elbow on his knee. 

"Yeah." Venturing up beside him, Trucy placed a hand on her cheek, dark brown eyes staring up at him. "There's not anything to eat in the kitchen." 

Voices began nibbling at the back of his mind, demanding to know how he was going to restock those empty cabinets, and Phoenix forcefully shook his head. Words of reassurance clogged his throat, unable to silence the truth ringing in his head. Trucy didn't seem to notice his distress and continued, small hand moving to rest on her care-taker's knee. 

"Do you like hamburgers, Daddy? We could get some and then go grocery shopping." 

Despite the hollow hopelessness that washed through him, Phoenix found himself biting back a laugh. An eight year old was patting his knee, suggesting the things he should be telling _her_. And silly as it sounded, the little hand on his leg threatened to push back the thick darkness clouding his being, small palm warming more than just his knee. 

Standing from the couch, Phoenix offered the girl a smile that wasn't nearly as forced as he had anticipated. "Sure do, Truce. Sounds like a good plan." The grin the little girl sent his way caused the one on his face to grow wider. 

Shrugging off the bleak thoughts to the best of his abilities, Phoenix moved towards to door, determined to at least make it through dinner with the little girl. When he felt a hand slip inside of his, he found that the darkness wasn't nearly as constricting as it had been minutes earlier. Though he wasn't sure how he was going to pull all of this off and still felt as though he had been thrown to the ground, Phoenix knew that, despite his current state, he had to reach for air. 

He couldn't give in to the despair looming all around him. He had a daughter now; a dependent. Someone who looked to him for answers. 

And no matter how he felt, Phoenix knew that he couldn't let her down.

_**xxxx**_

**A/n:** I just realized my title has a duel meaning. Both Phoenix and Trucy can be viewed as a dependent. Hah! I'm slow...

My lack of smarts aside, I had fun with this. Before I started 4-4, I had this idea floating around about Trucy being Phoenix's light. When he said the same thing that I had been thinking, I just had to do something on it. And little Trucy was so adorable, with her Mr. Hat and cute little outfit- how could she not be a little ray of sunshine? 

Reviews would be wonderful. Opinions are always welcome. Thanks for the read.

_- L2G_


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